Unemployment climbs in the Capital Region

Unemployment in the Capital Region jumped in December, erasing the improvement seen in November.

The state labor department today said the December unemployment rate in the Capital Region was 7 percent, up from 6.7 percent in November and 5.9 percent a year ago. The December rate is the highest recorded for the month since the department began keeping Capital Region statistics in 1990.

Statewide unemployment also climbed in December, rising to 8.8 percent from 8.4 percent in November. (The numbers are not seasonally adjusted.)

Since the state went into recession in August 2008, it has lost 263,500 private sector jobs, or about two-thirds of the employment added during the state’s 2003-2008 economic expansion, the labor department said.

The Capital Region had 31,400 people in December who were unemployed and looking for work, a rise from 30,100 in November.

November’s statistics, which showed a drop in unemployment, were heralded as a sign that the Capital Region had turned the corner and was rebounding from the recession. But the numbers released today are likely to dampen that optimism.